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5 Questions About Team USA's Preliminary World Cup Roster

United States' Clint Dempsey, center, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against Panama during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal soccer match Wednesday, June 22, 2011, in Houston.

"The clock is ticking," United States Men's National Team (USMNT) coach Jurgen Klinsmann told reporters during a Monday afternoon conference call. Klinsmann had just done something that seemingly accelerated the hands of time toward their final destination — their only destination, as far as many soccer fans are concerned: The 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Minutes before that conference call began, Klinsmann released his 30-man roster for the USMNT's pre-World Cup training camp at Stanford University. Coming exactly one month before the World Cup's opening match on June 12, the preliminary roster announcement is a formality we all knew was coming — but one that also heats months of simmering World Cup excitement to a boil, thanks simply to its symbolic importance.

Here we'll answer five questions — ranging from the basic to the more advanced — about the USMNT's preliminary World Cup roster. You'll be up to speed and ready to hold your own in the World Cup watercooler conversation in no time at all.

What is this roster and what happens next?

Head coach of United States soccer team, Jurgen Klinsmann, gives directions during a training session in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014.

Image: Nelson Antoine/Associated Press

As noted above, the roster Klinsmann named on Monday afternoon includes 30 men. The rub? Only 23 players get to travel to Brazil for the actual World Cup. Klinsmann has until June 2 to submit his final World Cup roster to FIFA, world soccer's governing body. So a lot of evaluation will take place between March 14, the first day of training camp, and June 2.

Some of that evaluation will happen during the first of three tuneup matches the USMNT will play on its home soil before leaving to Brazil. The team plays Azerbaijan on May 27 in San Francisco, Turkey on June 1 in New York City and Nigeria on June 7 in Jacksonville, Florida. None of those matches count for anything. They're simply a chance for Klinsmann and his staff to evaluate bubble players and future teammates to build chemistry before the World Cup.

But one disclaimer worth mentioning: Just because a player doesn't make the cut from the 30-man roster to its final iteration doesn't mean they're out of the U.S. Soccer picture. National soccer programs run intermittently year-round all the time — not just during World Cup years — so a player who's cut before the 2014 World Cup could easily end up being a USMNT star in future years.

So who's on this roster, anyway?

US national soccer team player Jozy Altidore during the friendly soccer match between Austria and United States in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013.

Image: Hans Punz/Associated Press

Klinsmann's 30-man roster includes names familiar to even the most casual U.S. Soccer fans — Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Tim Howard, for starers. But it also includes plenty of names only familiar to close followers of the sport (more on that later). Fifteen play domestically in Major League Soccer (learn more about them here), while the other 15 play in Mexico or Europe.

Here's the full list of three goalkeepers, 11 defenders, 10 midfielders and six strikers (their professional club teams are in parenthesis) who make up the USMNT training camp roster.

Wait, no Eddie Johnson? What's up with that?

Johnson, a striker for D.C. United, scored five goals in 17 USMNT appearances last year, including hugely important scores against Panama and Mexico during World Cup qualifying matches. "Eddie Johnson took us to Brazil with important goals," Klinsmann admitted during Monday's conference call.

Yet Johnson is nowhere to be found on Klinsmann's 30-man roster — meaning he won't be going to Brazil at all.

Johnson is an attacking forward who, as Klinsmann said on Monday, "can make a difference within a second of being on the field." But he's also capable of simply disappearing for long stretches — struggling since joining D.C. United this season from the Seattle Sounders, for example. Johnson is also a maturity question-mark even at age 30; he drew headlines last week for publicly criticizing his United teammates, but Klinsmann said that didn't factor into his decision to snub the scorer.

“He’s a player who brings so much to the table and has done so well with us over the last two years, and scored very, very important goals. And he can also play as a left wing or a right wing," Klinsmann said. "But at the end of the day you have to put them together to make your ranking [of USMNT forwards], and that’s just where you don’t see Eddie in this roster right now.”

Johnson, for his part, kept things classy with this tweet.

Disappointed not to be joining my brothers at the World Cup, but wish them all the best. Time 2 get back 2 work in DC #GOUSA#VamosUnited

If the USMNT loses a close match early on in Brazil, expect many to immediately question the omission of Johnson's explosive scoring ability. And expect those questions to be justified.

Landon a lock? Not so fast

United States' Landon Donovan, foreground left, celebrates after scoring a goal with fellow team member United States' Edson Buddle, foreground right, as Algeria goalkeeper Rais M'Bolhi, second from left in background, reacts during the World Cup group C soccer match between the United States and Algeria at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, June 23, 2010.

Image: Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Landon Donovan is generally regarded as the best player in American soccer history. He's only 32 years old, meaning he's not over the hill yet. And he scored an incredible last-second goal to move the USMNT on to the elimination stage of the 2010 World Cup. But he may not be the mortal lock for Brazil that most Americans assume he is.

Donovan, while still a great player by U.S. standards, has lost a couple steps since 2010. When he took a self-imposed sabbatical from soccer in 2013, Klinsmann was clear about where that placed him in the USMNT hierarchy.

"He deserves every compliment for that," Klinsmann said on Monday of Donovan's USMNT career credentials. "I simply told him, 'If you take a break like that, you have to fight your way back into the picture.'"

Klinsmann also said he considers Donovan a pure forward on this 30-man roster — as opposed to more of a midfield-hybrid position — which could be another indicator that Klinsmann doesn't see Donovan being as high up the food chain as many may assume. It would nonetheless be a major shock if Donovan isn't on the final 23-man roster — even if he only plays a supporting role in Brazil.

You can't leave home the guy who made this magic happen — right?

Who are the babies, Julian Green and DeAndre Yedlin?

Green is an 18-year-old Bayern Munich forward who famously committed his national team future to the U.S. over Germany this spring. Yedlin (pictured below, with one of his many wild hairstyles) is a 20-year-old defender who plays for the Seattle Sounders in MLS. They're the babies of this group, but two names USMNT fans would be wise to remember for the future.

Seattle Sounders' DeAndre Yedlin stands on the field after the Sounders beat Chivas USA in a MLS soccer match, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, in Seattle.

Image: Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Both players only recently made their USMNT debuts; Yedlin on Feb. 1 in a friendly against South Korea, and Green on April 2 in a friendly against Mexico. That inexperience will work against them during training camp, although Klinsmann wouldn't have invited them if he didn't think they had a shot at the final roster.

"With Julian and DeAndre, we have two huge talents being part of the 30-man roster and it will be interesting to see how they take that challenge," Klinsmann said Monday. "Because they obviously don't have the experience that other players have it will be interesting for our coaches to see how they take it on and how they now compete for the 23 (player) roster. But if you analyze both players, they have tremendous upside in their development curve and going forward. We'll see clearly over the next three weeks if they're ready for a World Cup or not."

If not this summer, expect Green and Yedlin to be crucial pieces for the USMNT in years to come as Klinsmann and his staff look to build on what will hopefully be a successful campaign in Brazil.

The World Cup clock, after all, never really stops ticking.

Never Forget the USMNT's 1994 World Cup Kits

1. Known as "the Denim Kit," the jerseys were made to look like denim. Yes, denim. Why? Because denim signifies America, of course.

Shown here: United States national team forward Eric Wynalda (11), right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring the first USMNT goal in a 1994 World Cup group-play match against Switzerland, on June 18, 1994. The match ended in a 1-1 tie.

Image: Lennox McLendon/Associated Press

2. These things have become major collectors' items for some, and have the high price tags to go with that status. Here's a relatively uninspired-looking replica listed for $185 on eBay. Here's a purportedly game-worn authentic one listed for $500.

Shown here: United States forward Ernie Stewart, second from left, joins teammates Tab Ramos (9) and Thomas Dooley, left, to celebrate Stewart's goal as Colombia goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba, right, watches the ball roll into the net during a World Cup group-play match on June 22, 1994. The United States defeated Colombia 2-1.

Image: Lois Bernstein/Associated Press

3. The kits were designed by Adidas. But, before settling on the denim versions, a tie-dye concept was considered, according to a 2011 interview with Adidas product manager Drew Gardner.

That. Would. Have. Been. Awesome.

Shown here: United States defender Thomas Dooley, right, hits a header off a corner kick over two Romanian players during a World Cup group-pay match on Sunday, June 26, 1994. Romania defeated the United States 1-0.

Shown here: United States defender Alexi Lalas jubilates after the United States upset Colombia 2-1 in a World Cup group-play match on June 22, 1994.

Image: Eric Draper/Associated Press

5. The 1994 home versions were a bit more understated. But, because the United States hosted in '94, the USMNT only wore the starry away numbers once, for its Round of 16 elimination loss to Brazil on July 4. Now, was that sad result just a simple coincidence? You be the judge.

Shown here: Frank Klopas of the United States attempts a header against Estonia in a pre-World Cup exhibition match on May 7, 1994.

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